Partner Services

Lorentz Meats is committed to working with small-scale, local producers who directly market their meat and livestock. We work with over 300 direct marketers every year. Direct marketers with questions about cutting or scheduling should contact Larry Hoffman at (507) 263-3618 x221

While there are many possible ways to directly market meat from your livestock we have found that two ways seem to consistently work well:

• Selling the animal while alive in halves or quarters and having your customers place their own cutting orders.

• Selling the meat in halves, quarters, or bundles proportional to how meat comes from an animal, such as 1/12th or 1/20th.

Selling meat by the cut often results in high transaction costs per sale and the stockpiling of cuts that don’t easily sell.

For further discussion of these points and suggestions for dealing with the top 10 reasons people do not buy wholes, halves or quarters, see Marketing Beef for Small-Scale producers, a publication developed by Lorentz Meats and Iowa State University. Although the publication is written specifically for beef producers, it is also relevant to marketing pork, lamb, or other meats directly.

Another document that might be of interest to direct markets is the Whole Animal Beef and Pork Buying Guide from Iowa State University Extension. This easy-to-use, consumer-oriented guide explains buying pork and beef as whole animals (or portions thereof). The guide explains marketing terms, storage and handling recommendations, types of meat inspection, meat weights (live vs. carcass vs. retail cuts), and common retail pork and beef cuts with color photos.